Rubber heel



A. l.. MURRAY l 2,151,613

RUBBER HEEL March 21, l93 9 Filed May 2l, 1938 Elfi l r un?" A RNEYS.

Patented Mar. 21, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RUBBER HEEL Albert L.Murray, Auburn, Ind.

Application May 21, 1938, Serial No. 209,259 13 claims. (c1. sei- 35) tThis invention relates to a rubber heel strucure.

'I'he chief object of this invention is to provide in a rubber heelcertain bearing areas on the 5 surface thereof which insure coplanarcontact and thereby prevent biased, cooking or tilting contact.

Another chief object of the invention is to provide in a heel of theaforesaid character a resilient cushion arrangement so associated withthe co- 10 planar contact providing means that cushioning contact isalso obtained.

The chief feature of the invention consists in constructing a rubberheel and providing the same with the instrumentalities necessary toi ac-15 complish the aforesaid objects.

Other objects and features of the invention will be set forth more fullyhereinafter.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from theaccompanying drawing and the o following description and claims.

Y 30 Fig. 4 is a plan View of the heel and directed toward the anchoringface thereof.

In the drawing I indicates the body portion of a rubber heel formed ofrubber material of the usual or any preferred character and hav- Wardlyinclined and arcuately outlined face I2. The face secured to the shoeincludes an inclined peripheral border portion I3 and a oentral portionI4 provided with a face which is slightly corrugated. It is alsoprovided with an additional hollow portion or recess I5 to whichreference will be had hereinafter.

The opposite or tread face., to which the invention is primarilydirected, is provided with a 45 back abutment portion I6 which issubstantially horseshoe shape, as illustrated, and. is eccentricallyarranged relative to the major and minor axes of the body portion, theeccentricity in a pair of heels being of opposite character.

In the present invention, this abutment of heel plate character, as itwere, terminates at and is coincident with the side face I I of theheel. This heel plate structure is integral with the body portion andmay be of any suitable height and Width. 55 There is also provided onthe tread face of the ing a partially elliptical periphery II and afor-..

heel a plurality of buttons I1 and these are arranged in spaced relationrelative to each other and in spaced relation tothe various side sur.faces of the heel.

Within the outline of the heel plate abut- 5 ment, there also is formedin a similarly spaced relation, buttons I8. These have a heightsubstantially that of the abutment I6 and preferably do not exceed thesame.- The buttons I' have a height substantially that of the abutment.10 Thus, all of the tread surface contacting areas have a common heightand, therefore, provide for coplanar contact. Each of the buttons I'Iand I8 is provided with bore portions I9 and 20, respectively. Ifdesired, these may beV countersunk as illustrated and as indicatedatVISA and A, respectively.

Imbedded in the body portion IU are apertured washers 2I each having theaperture 22, the latter registering with the adjacent bore and servingto locate the body portion of the nail or other equivalent anchoringdevice subsequently inserted in the bore and extending thru the heel andinto the shoe for anchoring the heel to the shoe. The corrugated surfaceI4 may also be 25 supplied with rubber cement for cementitious anchorageof the heel to the shoe.

Centrally positioned on the tread face of the body portion is aresilient cushion structure and the same is defined by the peripheralgroove 23. Herein such groove and cushion structure is shown D-shape inform. The cushion includes the portion 24 integral with the portion I0and an exposed portion 25 of somewhat greater resilient rubbercharacter, although homogeneously connected thereto and, therefore,integral with the body portion. The exposed face of the cushion portionis preferably of a height substantially equal to the common heightpreviously described. Thus the coplanar contact is maintained. Theexposed surfaces of the buttons I1 and vI8 and the exposed surface ofthe cushion portion may have any desired or preferred formation whichmay be of ornamental character although it may also be of utilitariancharacter.

The portion 25 may be of different color than the body portion whichusually is black, thereby being or ornamental character. The centralD-shape cushion portion 24-25 registers With the recess portion I5 sothat there is mutual co- 50 operation between the body portioninterposed between the cushion insert and the well face and thus thecushion is capable of compression when subjected to load. The abutmentI6 by reason of the inclusion of the buttons I8 also is of non- 55slipping character as compared to a smooth faced abutment.

The abutment in the use of the article, takes the greatest amount ofWear so there is provided a relatively Wide back bearing area and ifdesired and as illustrated in Fig. l, an extended side bearing ofappreciable area for Wear effect. The cushion portion by reason of itsresiliency and recess nestability is not subjected initially to as muchwear as the buttons and the abutment but these Wear in use, the cushionbecomes subject to increasing Wear. The resulting structure is a heelwhich when properly applied to the shoe insures coplanar contact and byreason of the central cushion portion secures initial resilient contactand of non-skidding character.

It has been determined a D-shape central formation providesapproximately 14% more bearing area along the axis X-X in Fig. l over acircular formation. .Y

Whilethe invention has been illustrated and described in great detail inthe drawing and foregoing description, the same is to be considered asillustrative andv not restrictive in character.

The several modications described herein as Well as others which willreadily suggest themselves to persons skilled in this art, all areconsidered to be Within the broad scope of the invention, referencebeing had to the appended claims. The invention claimed is: 1. A rubberheel including in integral relation a main body portion, an abutmentupon the tread face thereof and positioned at the back thereof,

`tread buttons upon the tread face and of subl l, of the buttons. t

3. A device as defined by claiml 1, ycharacteri stantially the sameheightlas the abutment and spaced apart and from the abutment ,fornonrocking bearing contact, and a central cushion portion enveloped bysaid buttons and abutment and having a portion of its outer surface'stantially coplana'i` with that ofthe buttons and abutment. 2. A rubberheel including aimain body portion, tread buttons of substantiallycommon height projecting fromv the tread f .ace4 thereof i spaced fromthe periphery and each otherl but ized by the addition of buttons formedentirely Within the outline of said abutment but of a height notbgreaterthan that of the otherrbuttonsv or abutment, said abutment comprisingmore than the abutment included buttons.

4. A device as dened by claim l, characterized by the central cushionportion being dened by an enveloping groove, and the outer portion ofthe cushion portion being of material more resilient than the bodyportion.

5. A device as dened by claim 2, characterized by the central cushionportion being defined by an enveloping groove, and the outer portion ofthe cushion portion being of material more resilient than the bodyportion.

6. A device as dened by claim l, characterized by the central cushionportion being dened by an enveloping groove, and the outer portion ofthe cushion portion being of material more resilient than the bodyportion, and the opposite face of the body portion including a cushionregistering cavity for the purpose described.

7. Adevice ,as defined by claim 2, characterized by the central cushionportion being dened by an enveloping groove, and the outer portion ofthe cushion portion being of material more resilient than the bodyportion and the opposite face of the body portion including a cushionregistering cavity for the purpose described.

8. Aheel asv dened by kclaim 1. characterized by the central cushionportion being D-shape in outline.

9. A heel as deiined by yclaim 2 characterized by the central cushionportion being D-shape in outline.

10. A device as dened by claim 1, characterized by the central cushionportion being dened by an enveloping groove, and the outer portion ofthe cushion portion being of material more resilient than the bodyportion, and the central cushion portion being D-shape in outline.

11. A device as dened by claim 1, characterized by the central cushionportion being defined by an enveloping groove, and the outer portion ofthe cushion portion being of material more resilient than the bodyvportion,rand the opposite face of the body portion including a cushionregistering cavity for the purpose described, and the central cushionportion beingY D-shape in outline.

12.v A rubber heel including in integral relation a main body portion, asuitable tread face of antislipping character adjacent the peripherythereof, and a central cushion portion Within the antislipping facearrangement and dened by an enveloping groove, the outer portion oi thecushion portion being of material more resilient than the body portion.

13. A rubber heel as defined by claim l2, characterized by the oppositeface of the body portion, including a cushion registering cavity for thepurpose described.

ALBERT L. MURRAY.

